MUNN'S MILL

One time there was a sawmill on the beach in Harricott Pond. It was owned by a man named John Munn from Harbour Grace. He ran the mill by steam. The old boiler that is on the beach here even now was the one he used. The big flywheel that he used it also there.

The boiler actually came from the first train that ran from St. John's to Harbour Grace. This was proven by J.R. Smallwood when he was known as the Barrel Man in the early 40s. At that time if you wrote him a letter and asked him a question that he could not answer, you would get a pound of Pheasant Tea from him and the company Esterbrooks. There were two sisters who wrote and asked him where the boiler came from, so he had it investigated and found out. They got their pound of tea anyway.

Men cut logs up Harricott River and in order to drive them down the river in the spring, they had to make a dam at Warren's Waters. Harricott Flats at that time was all large red spruce trees. When the river would break up in the spring, the ice would pile up among the trees and back up the water so it was impossible to get up the flats. In those times, it would take an extra long time for the ice to melt. So one of the foremen who was named Batten, had some men cut a path up the side of the river to the Nine Mile Road so they could put the logs in the river and drive them. The path was called Batten's Path and still is.

In order to keep the logs from scattering all over the pond, they had to put a boom over the mouth of the river. They also had to build balusters in the pond in order to hold the booms. The remains of the ballisters are still there to be seen.

PENNEY

There was a merchant in Salmonier some years after Munn left Harricott by the name of Penney. He had a contract to cut a lot of pulpwood. There were a lot of men from around the bay to cut the pulpwood up Harricott River and across the pond. There are many paths by the pond named for the men who found them.

Penney also had wood cut in North Harbour. When it was all ready, he had a man named Kelley from Badger come to drive the wood in the river. In the meantime, they repaired the dam on Warren's Waters. When the dam was full of water, the men opened the gates and when all the water struck the pulp it all piled in a big jam in every sharp turn in the river. They couldn't get enough water to break the jam, so Penney called it off and Kelley went home.